Public Banking in California: Learning from the Bank of North Dakota
CPBA Admin
July 21, 2025
Our new brief, “Public Banking in California: Learning from the Bank of North Dakota,” with the University of Michigan is out! This is the most comprehensive U.S. economic report focused on CA public banks, and the first academic, data-driven analysis to use the BND as a case study for how public banks can save money, expand affordable housing and access to capital for small businesses, and help close racial wealth gaps.
We would like to thank Terri Friedline and the University of Michigan team, Trinity Tran and Rick Girling with the California Public Banking Alliance, Erin Kilmer-Neel and the Beneficial State Foundation team, Bianca Blomquist and the Small Business Majority team, and Lydia Casmier at Demos.
Our goal with this report was to give California’s public banking movement a data-driven foundation. It provides clear, evidence-based findings that support what we as advocates have been saying for years and helps lay the groundwork for policy frameworks to establish public banks across the state.
Read it here! Public Banking in California: Learning from the Bank of North Dakota
Landing page on Poverty Solutions.
